There have been some big changes in my life since Jill Sessa interviewed me for Episode 200 at the end of 2022, so I'm back with some updates!

Tune in to learn what's been going on, why I'm feeling the need for more space in my life and work, and how I'm creating that space.

I share:

The big trip we're gearing up for

A major decision I've made about Nomadtopia(R)

A life-changing diagnosis I recently received (don't worry, I'm okay!)

And more

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

Investing in real estate as a nomad might sound impossible. When you’re traveling all the time, how can you buy a property, fix it up, find renters, and manage it? As it turns out, there is a way, and it doesn’t involve renovations or interviewing potential tenants—or require you to be local to the property.

In today’s episode I’m chatting with Matt Bowles, longtime nomad and cofounder of Maverick Investor Group, which helps people purchase turnkey properties that already have tenants and property managers in place. He shares why these types of properties are such great investments especially if you’re living the nomad lifestyle as well as the benefits of working with a nontraditional brokerage like his and how such an investment can give you consistent passive residual income for  years to come.

In this episode:

Why Matt wanted to build his own business and how he created more autonomy in his life to travel the world

How joining Remote Year brought him community as a nomad, and what influences the pace at which he travels from country to country

Why he loves visiting Africa and his recommendations for nomads interested in exploring the continent

Everything you need to know about turnkey properties, from what they are to why they’re advantageous

How Matt’s nontraditional brokerage approach works for buyers, and the income and tax benefits that come with owning rental property

How this type of real estate investing plays into housing injustice, and how to be a responsible landlord who provides value and a safe space to tenants and the community

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/203.

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram https:www.instagram.com/nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

Nomads can experience grief in many forms: grief for the places we’ve loved and left, grief for saying goodbye to the friends we meet during our travels, and of course grief for those we lose to death. Losing a loved one is always life changing, but it can be especially difficult for those of us living and traveling oceans away from home.

In this episode, I’m joined by Charlene Lam, grief coach and founder of The Grief Gallery Charlene Lam, who came into this work after losing her mom while she was abroad. She explains how grief can be a unique experience for nomads, but also how grief feels different for everyone. Charlene also shares her advice for creating a plan in case a family member dies or has a medical emergency while you’re away.

In this episode:

• Why Charlene loves the unique combination of stability and flexibility in her nomad life
• How she created a career in grief work after losing her mother suddenly
• Navigating the emotional challenges that come with living far from your loved ones
• Why it’s important to have conversations about loss before it happens
• How to create a plan in case a loved one dies or needs medical care while you’re away
• How to stay connected with family from anywhere
• Creating a support network of people back home to help in case of emergencies
• How different people process grief, and respecting how you process grief 
• Where to find help and resources if you’re experiencing grief

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/194

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram https:www.instagram.com/nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

After starting and running numerous businesses, KeeKee built her consulting business to cater to a location-independent lifestyle. She’s based in San Diego but travels frequently and chooses to live on vacation no matter where she finds herself on the map.

• Building relationships online and off
• What it means to “live on vacation”
• What she wishes she’d known before she started
• The essential mind-set that prepares you for this lifestyle
• How to create a business you love
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/105 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

Gabriella and Vernon sold it all and moved their family to Mazatlán, Mexico, in October 2016. They have spent the last ten months growing closer as a family, raising three third-culture kids who are now 4, 5, and 6 years old, building their location-independent businesses, and simply living life on their own terms.

• Why they decided to move to Mazatlán
• Doing a reconnaissance trip to scope things out
• Preparing to move abroad as a family
• Challenges of living in Mexico
• Safety in Mexico (and the rest of the world!)
• Must-have tools for a location-independent life
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/104 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

Kit and Nick have been working while traveling the world for nine years. They don’t have a home base, and they move around a lot more than some other long-term nomads (like me!). They also co-founded the 7in7 conference for nomads, and joined me to talk about everything from how much we spend each month to travel hacking and other insights from nine years on the road.

• How they came up with the idea for the 7in7 conference for nomads
• Finding the “secret nomads”
• How much we spend on our lifestyle
• Travel planning and travel hacking as a nomad
• Why Kit and Nick don’t have a home base
• Living intentionally
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/103 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

With freedom as her core value, Emily has made intentional choices to create a location-independent life that works for her (and her partner who chooses not to be location independent). We talked about budgeting for the lifestyle, exploring a city via Airbnb, and lots more.

• How she created location-independent income streams
• Choosing to go freelance
• Making intentional choices to create freedom in our lives
• Managing money as a freelancer/nomad (and why we’re both huge fans of YNAB)
• Using Airbnb to explore neighborhoods in a new city
• Tips for having a relationship with someone who doesn’t want to be location independent
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/102 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

After several years abroad, Naomi and her family moved back to the States, where she wasn’t at all prepared for the challenges of repatriation. Learning about the idea that her experience had shaped her into a “triangle” helped her make sense of it all, and it led Naomi to create what is now a thriving community of people living global lives. Tune in as we talk about what it means to be a triangle, differing experiences of being an expat (and why she’d like to remove that word from our vocabulary completely), and so much more.

• Setting up a location-independent real estate business
• What it means to be a “triangle”
• Challenge and privilege of the word “expat”
• Why a sense of belonging is important (and how to find it)
• How to handle the challenges of repatriation
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/101 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

I never thought I’d end up doing 100 episodes of Nomadtopia Radio! To celebrate this milestone, I asked a few nomad friends to join me, and we recorded this episode live on video on August 7, 2017. Tune in as we talk about our nomad lives, our favorite tools, and so much more. You can check out the video replay at www.nomadtopia.com/100live.

• How we find good internet access (and manage if we don’t)
• How we make money/support our lifestyle
• Our favorite tools
• The “best” places to go
• Some of our favorite books
• Tips for borrowing and highlighting Kindle books
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/100 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

After falling in love with overland travel on the Pan-American Highway, Dan went home to save money for his next adventure: two years overland through 30 countries in Africa. He’s about halfway through his trip and joined me from Cameroon to talk money, logistics, and more.

• Cultivating the mind-set to save money for travel
• Costs of overland travel vs backpacking
• Deciding where to go and getting visas
• Tools and community for overland travel
• Do you need a lot of driving experience to travel overland?
• Biggest misconceptions about overland travel
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/99 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio by becoming a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

The way we each live our Nomadtopia often changes over time, so I’ve asked Valerie back on the show—two and a half years after she first joined me in February 2015—to share where she is now. We talked about how things have gone and what’s changed in her Nomadtopia—and why—in the last few years.

• Choosing to have a home base
• Creating a home
• Finding or building community
• Getting sick on the road
• Knowing when it’s time to make a change
• Ignoring the shoulds of this lifestyle
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/98 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more. Support Nomadtopia Radio as a patron! More info at www.nomadtopia.com/patron.

Elizabeth intentionally created a business that fits the lifestyle she wants to live. As a location-independent lawyer for small businesses, she manages a remote team and takes lots of road trips.

• Where to set up your business if you’re traveling within the U.S. or abroad
• U.S. state taxes when traveling domestically
• Structuring contracts when your clients are in different locations
• Legal concerns with partnerships and in-person events
• Business liability insurance
• Signing contracts online, terms and conditions, etc.
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/97 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more.

Many people think about remote working and the digital nomad lifestyle as being something new, but it’s actually been around nearly as long as the internet itself. Those of us who’ve been here since the early days have evolved along with it, both in our careers and in our traveling lifestyles.

In this episode, I’m joined by digital marketing consultant and digital nomad Luis Betancourt. We talk about how we first met in 2007 during the heyday of Couchsurfing and how Luis’s digital nomad lifestyle has changed since then. He shares how he and his wife have found their unique balance of home versus traveling and work versus play. Also, Luis shares his advice for utilizing online networking to grow your business.

In this episode:

• How Luis’s life as a nomad has evolved over the years
• How Luis became a digital nomad before it was a worldwide trend
• Falling in love with solo traveling, and then sharing his love of travel with his wife
• How the pandemic allowed him and his wife to become fully location independent
• Finding a balance between traveling the world and enjoying time at home
• How working remotely has changed since Luis first discovered it
• How to market yourself as a solopreneur or freelancer 
• The power of virtual networking to grow your business and client base

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/193

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram https:www.instagram.com/nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

Since he decided he wanted the freedom to travel wherever, whenever, Luke has taken advantage of Working Holiday visas in a number of countries, learned how to talk to pretty much anyone, figured out what it takes to work from anywhere, and lots more.

In This Episode:

• How Luke ran his first business into the ground
• Traveling on Working Holiday visas
• How travel made Luke more extroverted
• Luke’s tips for meeting/talking to people
• Biggest challenges in his Nomadtopia
• Resources that helped him create his Nomadtopia
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/96 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more.

Naomi describes herself as a “nomad who likes to nest”—and housesitting is the perfect way to get the best of both worlds. She joins me from her current sit in Sydney, Australia, to talk about her Nomadtopia as a full-time housesitter.

• How Naomi became a triple citizen
• Considerations when traveling with multiple passports
• Logistics/requirements of citizenship (taxes, voting, etc.)
• How/when she books housesitting gigs
• Dealing with/avoiding crappy Internet when housesitting
• Naomi’s top tips for successful housesitting
• And so much more

See www.nomadtopia.com/95 for show notes plus other interviews, resources, community, and more.

While living in Colorado, Marianne and her husband came up with the idea to move to Costa Rica. About five years later, with their young son in tow, they finally made it happen. Tune in as we talk about making a change on a long timeline and lots more.

Jessica learned the hard way that taking your business on the road isn't always as easy as it sounds. After experiencing some challenges on her first adventure abroad, she made some changes and set everything up to run smoothly—and her business and lifestyle have thrived ever since.

Robert Taylor is a screenprinter from South Africa. He and his wife are educating their four-year-old on the road as they travel, perfect their craft, and teach others a skill that they can actually use anywhere in the world.

After saving money while working as a lawyer for five years, Jodi Ettenberg quit her job in 2008. The plan was to travel the world for a year, but nine years later, she has yet to return to the practice of law. What started as full-time travel, then a nomadic lifestyle while making her living on the road, has morphed into a home base in Oaxaca, Mexico, while she continues to work in food and storytelling.

Britany and her husband recently sold almost everything they own (including their home) and quit the highest-paying jobs either one of them has ever had. When we talked, they were just about to embark on an open-ended journey around the Western half of the United States in their travel trailer with their two dogs.

Lifelong entrepreneur Bobby lives primarily in Latvia these days, and he travels frequently to get the "boots on the ground" experience necessary for his work offering offshore corporate and trust services. He also advises location-independent entrepreneurs on how to properly structure their businesses to minimize taxes and take advantage of global opportunities such as second residency and citizenship options, all of which we talk about in great detail on this episode.

You never know when a new place might take your breath away. And sometimes, it’s the most unlikely destinations that produce the most profound impacts in our lives. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, even a spur-of-the-moment trip can create a lifelong passion for a place.

In this episode, I’m joined by the founder of Expat in Croatia, Sara Dyson. She shares her story of moving to and falling in love with Croatia, even though it wasn’t her first choice of destination. She explains some of the bureaucratic and logistical challenges of moving to a different country, and we also talk about the impact digital nomads and expats can have on a place and how to be sensitive to these issues.

In this episode:

• How Sara turned her childhood dreams of living in Europe into a reality
• How she decided to move to Croatia, even though it wasn’t her first choice
• Why Sara created Expat in Croatia, the resource she wishes she had when she first moved overseas
• Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur
• How Sara has fallen in love with Croatia and made it her home in the past ten years
• Who Croatia is a good fit for, and how most foreigners experience the country
• Types of visas and permits available to people who want to live in Croatia
• How to be sensitive to the impact digital nomads and expats have on a place’s economy and real estate market

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/192

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram @nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

American writer Mel and Italian filmmaker Armando met while she was living in the Czech Republic and he in Bulgaria. A couple years later, a few spontaneous decisions found them living and traveling together in a VW T4 Westfalia, and they’ve now been on the road since 2012.

Billy and Akaisha retired at age 38 in 1991—long before Skype, email, and online bill pay!—and have been traveling the world for the past 25 years. They typically set up housekeeping in a foreign location for a while and then hit the road again for more exploring. Sometimes they house sit, or rent apartments or live out of an apart/hotel for months at a time. Over the years they have survived financial crashes, bear markets, and the Great Recession, and actually have more money today than they did when they first retired.

Originally from Spain, Carlos Peñalba is a passionate traveler and photographer who quit his job in New York to backpack through Asia for a year. It turned into an 18-month journey, during which he was also launching a new freelance career. After leaving Asia and as he tried to figure out what was next for him, Carlos wrote a memoir about his adventure, The Year I Became a Nomad: A Journey through Asia on a Quest for Freedom, Love and Happiness.

A former social worker, Nicole is a business strategist + coach who helps entrepreneurs make money doing work they love and create multiple income streams through her program the Authentic Affiliate Academy. She lives in New Jersey full time but travels regularly and takes one-month international trips to experience new countries and escape winter.

After 4+ years living in Argentina, developing location-independent skills, and taking a few trial runs, Louise is back on the nomad train. This year will be full of new (and old) countries, as well as the first time nomading with her partner. They only have tentative plans/ideas of where they’re going through winter. After that they’re not sure; they may even pick a base to stay for a while (but not Buenos Aires!).

Before she made the switch to digital entrepreneurship, Michelle had a long commute, was stressed out, had family problems that prohibited her from leaving her job, and felt rootless. Then, she began blogging about personal finance and was introduced to the idea of digital entrepreneurship and lifestyle design, fell in love with the idea, and never looked back. Now she is growing a digital business helping people who are working on quitting their 9-to-5 but can't quit yet. And although Michelle loves to travel and live abroad, right now her goal is to get further connected to her community in Denver.

Barry and Simone started their location-independent life by accident in 2012. They now split their time moving between Scotland (where they met) and Australia (where she is from) each year, by spending a few months in different locations each time. While they travel, Barry runs several businesses and Simone sometimes works with him, sometimes teaches English, and sometimes temps as an executive assistant.

After starting her most recent business while living in a van, Rebecca has created a flexible lifestyle that allows her to balance rock-climbing trips, running retreats, and other adventures with time at home.

Ebonie is an author, a coach, and an entrepreneur. She’s currently settled in Brighton, England, but incorporates a lot of travel into her location-independent business and lifestyle. Tune in to learn about the 1% that’s not location independent and much more.

Emily set herself up as a location-independent freelance writer so she’d be ready to go anywhere her husband's job might take them, and they’re currently living in Maputo, Mozambique, with their two-year-old daughter (and another baby on the way!). Although she considers herself a digital nomad by circumstance, not by choice, Emily loves living overseas and working remotely.

To live—and really flourish—abroad, cultivating self-trust is critical in finding your footing in a new place. Living in another country can come with a range of difficulties, but that’s just part of the challenge. It’s not a balm to fix all your problems, but it does provide an opportunity for self-actualization.

In this episode, I am joined by Christine Job, a business strategist currently living in Spain. We talk about how taking a different path gives you the space to choose what you really want, accountability as a form of self-care, and how living abroad can be a pathway to wellness. You’ll get her insight into what it’s really like living abroad and facing challenges with language differences, a new sense of identity, and learning to surrender. 

In this episode:

• What brought Christine to Spain and kept her there
• How self-care and betting on yourself doesn’t always look the way you’d expect 
• The biggest benefits of living abroad and having an international experience
• How living abroad is a pathway to wellness
• How nomad living opens you to a sense of surrender 
• How this kind of lifestyle shifts your sense of identity
• The language barriers of living abroad
• The biggest surprises of living in Spain
• How you can hold joy and grief at the same time

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/191.

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram @nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

Amy and her husband made the transition from living the typical life in suburbia to organic farmers in New Hampshire to now location-independent entrepreneurs. They are currently on a two-plus-year road trip across the US and Canada with a focus on discovering great real food spots and natural beauty, connecting with their online community, and more.

Jeremy and his wife, Winnie, achieved financial independence and retired in their thirties so they could travel and start a family. With their one-year-old son they now travel slowly, eating their way around the world.

Amy has found a way to make her love for travel a lifestyle by running a travel blog and a travel planning service while keeping a full-time remote job. She has been to more than 22 countries, mostly traveling solo, and is considering setting up a base in Hawaii.

Erin sold everything she owned and left the UK in 2010 to travel the world with her partner, Simon. They mix living in one place for a few months with faster periods of travel and have travelled to more than 30 countries with just their carry-on backpacks while running a popular travel blog, Never Ending Voyage, and creating iPhone apps like Trail Wallet.

After years of squeezing every minute of travel possible into her vacation time, Melissa loves being her own boss and working from anywhere, which means she doesn’t have to ask for permission or time off to continue exploring. You’ll find her enjoying her home base, Portland, Oregon, when she’s not roaming the globe.

After trying out a number of different living arrangements, including Berlin and living in a van in the U.S., and setting everything up so she could live and work anywhere, Nicole and her partner ended up in the tiny island nation of Malta, where she’s loving life and running her location-independent web design business.

Tommy started his adventure abroad teaching English in South Korea. Eventually he landed in Medellin, Colombia, which is now his home base for further travels while he runs a content marketing agency and helps freelancers transition from side income to a full-time living.

After starting a successful online business (and getting burned out and losing sight of their bigger goals along the way), Nick and Gen decided to try out a more nomadic lifestyle. They discovered that it allowed for more inspiration and creativity (and time off), so they sold everything and now run two full-time businesses together while traveling full-time.

Since having their daughter in 2013 (and with a second child on the way), Hannah and her husband, Chris, have seen their travel lifestyle change to involve longer spells living in one new place rather than constantly traveling like many nomads do. They occasionally return to their flat in the UK for a few months at a time, and spend other periods focused on travel and living overseas.

Since he became a nomad in early 2011, Eli has been changing locations every two months. He almost always chooses to go to new places rather than ones he’s been to before, and over the years he has created a set of “rules” to guide his lifestyle that allow him to work on his businesses, connect with locals, and explore his surroundings.

Working with your spouse poses a unique set of challenges. When you throw full-time RVing into the mix, it becomes an even bigger adventure. But as you’ll hear on today’s episode, there’s nothing quite so freeing as hitting the road with the person you love to live untethered by your location or work.

In this episode, I’m joined by wives and business partners Jennie and Meredyth Mustafa-Julock for a conversation about living and working together on the road. Jennie and Meredyth are sharing their story of giving up their big-city lifestyle for one of full-time RV travel. Plus, they’re sharing their advice for sharing responsibilities and working together in an RV.

In this episode:

• Why Jennie and Meredyth decided to become digital nomads
• How they adjusted to the RV lifestyle as two women who’d never camped before
• How the RV lifestyle allowed Jennie and Meredyth to become more minimalist
• How to do a “test drive” of the nomadic lifestyle to make sure it’s a good fit
• How Jennie and Meredyth prepared for and researched the nomadic lifestyle
• What you learn from working and living with your partner in a small space
• Jennie and Meredyth’s advice for couples who want to make a similar life change
• How to separate responsibilities while on the road and find your traveling flow

For full show notes, resources, and links go to www.nomadtopia.com/190.

Download your free guide, ​​10 Things You Need to Do before Becoming a Nomad: https://www.nomadtopia.com/guide

Ready to get more ideas, inspiration, and strategies for location-independent living? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms so you’ll get updated anytime a new episode is released! 

Let’s connect! Get to know me better over on Instagram @nomadamy or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nomadtopia/.

Since she was a teenager, Caz has made travel a priority in her life. As a solo traveler, then with her husband, Craig, and now with two young daughters, the travels have continued—and along the way, she and Craig have built one of the world’s most successful travel blogs. Their most recent adventure was an 18-month road trip around their home country of Australia, and they’re already gearing up for their next road trip in the U.S. in late 2016.

Jasper travels the world while renting out his apartment in Amsterdam on Airbnb. He spends most of his time between Asia, the US, and South America. He typically stays put for a month or two in a city to focus on work, alternating that with a few weeks of scuba diving.

A honeymoon in Thailand led Lewis and his wife, Jenny, to quit their jobs to start traveling, which turned into more than three years on the road. They have recently returned to the UK, where Lewis has taken on a six-month contract job, and they’re finding that just as travel gives you a better perspective on your home country, being home gives you a better perspective on your travel!